{"id":2155477,"date":"2024-01-22T05:11:02","date_gmt":"2024-01-22T10:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/inside-the-lefts-spurious-legal-strategy-to-take-down-oil-and-gas-producers\/"},"modified":"2024-01-22T05:17:16","modified_gmt":"2024-01-22T10:17:16","slug":"inside-the-lefts-spurious-legal-strategy-to-take-down-oil-and-gas-producers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/inside-the-lefts-spurious-legal-strategy-to-take-down-oil-and-gas-producers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Left&#8217;s flawed legal plan to dismantle oil and gas producers"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Finside-the-lefts-spurious-legal-strategy-to-take-down-oil-and-gas-producers%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2155477&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>The Left&#8217;s Strategy to Target &#8220;Big Oil&#8221; in Climate Lawsuits<\/h2>\n<p>Last \u2062summer, the leaders of Multnomah\u2063 County\u2014the \u200dliberal Oregon enclave that \u200cincludes most of Portland\u2014filed a high-profile lawsuit seeking $1.5 billion in damages from the world&#8217;s\u200d top oil and gas producers. Exxon, Shell, BP, \u200dand others, county leaders argued in their complaint, \u200bknew that\u200b their &#8220;fossil fuel products&#8221; caused &#8220;catastrophic harm&#8221; but\u2062 told the public otherwise, thus making those companies liable for a heat wave that struck the Beaver State in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>The county&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/climatecasechart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/case-documents\/2023\/20230622_docket-23CV25164-_complaint.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">complaint<\/a> made reference to &#8220;the world&#8217;s largest oil companies&#8221; and laid out their &#8220;international operations,&#8221; through which the companies produce millions \u2063of barrels of oil per day. Left-wing media coverage of\u2064 the suit also emphasized the defendants&#8217; global reach:\u200d The <em>Guardian<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/us-news\/2023\/jun\/22\/oregon-big-oil-lawsuit-heatwave-heat-dome-pacific-northwest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> the suit targeted &#8220;major oil and\u2063 gas companies,&#8221; while <em>Mother Jones<\/em> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.motherjones.com\/environment\/2023\/06\/oregons-multnomah-county-sues-big-oil-for-2021-heat-wave\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">touted<\/a> the county&#8217;s work\u2062 to take on &#8220;Big Oil.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>One defendant included in the county&#8217;s complaint, however, was not mentioned in those stories. That defendant, Space Age Fuel, is not\u200b among &#8220;the\u200b world&#8217;s largest oil companies.&#8221; Its operations are also not &#8220;international&#8221;\u2014they&#8217;re limited to\u200d the Pacific Northwest. And unlike the other defendants named in \u200dthe suit, Space Age produces no oil. The company operates a \u2064chain of Oregon\u2062 gas stations and transports fuel \u2062around the\u2063 state.<\/p>\n<p>Multnomah County&#8217;s suit nonetheless lumps Space Age together with the oil industry&#8217;s global leaders, a move that attorneys say isn&#8217;t \u200ctruly aimed at collecting\u2064 damages from the local company. Instead, those attorneys \u200cargue, Multnomah County&#8217;s targeting of Space Age is a cynical move to keep the \u2063suit\u2063 away from federal court\u2014and in\u2064 front of state judges who are more likely to rule against oil and gas companies.<\/p>\n<h3>The \u2063Left&#8217;s Evolving Climate Litigation Strategy<\/h3>\n<p>The tactic\u200c reflects a broader emerging strategy from the\u2062 left \u2062in \u2063its\u2064 bid to bludgeon the conventional energy industry in favor of a green \u200btransition.<\/p>\n<p>Dozens\u200b of left-wing local and state governments have sued &#8220;Big Oil&#8221; \u2064for damages in recent years, with some of those suits \u200cincluding at least one local defendant. Had the\u200b suits only targeted multinational companies headquartered outside the state where the alleged \u200ddamages took place, the complaints would have gone to \u2062federal court. Including a local defendant,\u200c by contrast, keeps the complaints in state court, where more liberal judges are expected to view the plaintiffs more favorably.<\/p>\n<p>Involved in many of those complaints \u200cis the Center for Climate Integrity, a left-wing nonprofit that <a href=\"https:\/\/climateintegrity.org\/about\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">helps<\/a> local officials file suits \u2064&#8221;aimed \u200dat holding fossil fuel polluters accountable for the damages they have caused.&#8221; The group has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.influencewatch.org\/non-profit\/center-for-climate-integrity-cci\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">helped \u200cgenerate<\/a> such\u2064 litigation in \u200bcities from Honolulu to Baltimore, and a \u2064public \u200brecords request\u2014which was filed by watchdog group Government Accountability\u2063 and Oversight and reviewed by the <em>Washington Free Beacon<\/em>\u2014shows that\u2062 the Center for Climate Integrity discussed litigation with Multnomah County leaders \u2062before they filed their complaint.<\/p>\n<p>For Washington, D.C., attorney and former Greene County, Va., prosecutor Matthew Hardin, the county&#8217;s suit is an example\u200c of the left&#8217;s evolving climate litigation strategy.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;For a long \u2063time, the ploy was that they were only targeting wealthy out-of-state interests,&#8221; Hardin told the\u2062 <em>Free Beacon<\/em>. &#8220;That got legally risky,\u200c so now they&#8217;re\u2062 targeting \u200cin-state folks as\u2064 well.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In the case\u2064 of Multnomah County, that &#8220;ploy&#8221; means \u200dincluding Space Age in a suit centered on claims that do not appear to apply\u200c to the local company.<\/p>\n<p>One of the county&#8217;s \u2062court filings, for\u200c example, alleges that Exxon, Shell, and other defendants had \u200bearly knowledge about the negative environmental effects of oil and gas thanks to research they conducted. The companies then withheld\u200b that research from the\u200d public and pushed a &#8220;well-funded, sustained public relations campaign&#8221; that portrayed oil and gas as &#8220;harmless to the \u2062environment,&#8221; according to the county. As a result, the county says,\u200b the companies conspired to\u2064 &#8220;deceive the public about the science connecting global climate change to fossil fuel \u200cproducts,&#8221; thus placing\u2062 them on\u2063 the hook for\u2062 &#8220;widespread and catastrophic&#8221; environmental harm.<\/p>\n<p>But Space Age has conducted no research relating to climate change, its president, James Pliska, swore under penalty\u2063 of\u200d perjury in a <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/11_16-space-age-president.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">court declaration<\/a>.\u2062 The company has also &#8220;never engaged\u200b in any marketing campaign&#8221; related to climate change, &#8220;never obtained any information&#8221; about climate change, and &#8220;never released or made\u2064 any public statement about the causes or science of climate change,&#8221; Pliska attested. The\u200d company does, however, sell gas to everyday Oregonians.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Space Age is a small, family-owned and \u200coperated Oregon business. I started the company with my father, Hal \u200cPliska, in 1982,&#8221; Pliska said in his declaration. &#8220;Space Age is an independent marketer and seller of fuel\u200d products.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The distinctions\u200c between Space Age and other\u200b companies included in Multnomah County&#8217;s complaint, the oil companies argue, show that Space \u2064Age was improperly included in the suit and should be disregarded. If a judge agrees, the suit would permanently move to federal \u2062court. The companies filed a <a href=\"https:\/\/climatecasechart.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/case-documents\/2023\/20230818_docket-323-cv-01213_notice-of-removal.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">motion<\/a> aiming to do just \u2064that in\u2062 August.<\/p>\n<p>While a judge is yet to rule on the request, \u200csimilar \u2062climate\u2063 litigation suggests it will fail. In South Carolina, for example, the city of Charleston included two state-based businesses in its 2020 lawsuit targeting Exxon, Chevron, Shell, and\u200b BP. The companies argued that those businesses were improperly included. A judge <a href=\"https:\/\/www.postandcourier.com\/environment\/charleston-gets-early-win-in-climate-change-lawsuit-vs-big-oil\/article_0d3088b0-1c50-11ee-80c2-4326bd224f41.html#:~:text=A%20federal%20judge%20has%20given,city%20wants%20the%20issue%20fought\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">disagreed<\/a>, tossing the case back to state court.<\/p>\n<p>Multnomah County is now working to achieve the\u2064 same result\u2062 by <a href=\"https:\/\/freebeacon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/12_13-county.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">arguing<\/a> that Space Age as a gas station operator engaged in &#8220;collective culpable conduct&#8221; aimed at &#8220;deceptively promoting and concealing \u200cthe dangers of fossil fuel use.&#8221; The outcome of the \u2063case will ride on\u2063 the court in which it is heard, D.C. \u2062attorney\u2063 Christopher Horner told the <em>Free Beacon<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The venue question is fatal to their campaign,&#8221; \u200bHorner said.\u200c &#8220;These cases are \u200ddead-letters in the \u200cfederal courts, and the only \u2063chance they have is by keeping it in the family, so to speak.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Should Multnomah County succeed in its effort to argue its suit in state court, fellow D.C. attorney Hardin suggested the precedent could hurt everyday Americans who \u2063rely on local oil and gas retailers. Attorneys behind\u200b the climate suits can\u2062 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/waynewinegarden\/2023\/07\/27\/climate-lawsuits-undermine-the-democratic-process-to-enrich-lawyers\/?sh=6009210922ec\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">earn millions<\/a> if they&#8217;re successful, providing\u2063 plenty of incentive to target local companies with\u2064 expensive litigation.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Will friendly fire benefit Oregonians, or just make it harder for\u2063 them to get\u200d to work, feed\u2063 their children, and heat their\u2062 homes?&#8221; Hardin asked.<\/p>\n<p>Multnomah County declined to \u200ccomment. Its attorneys and the Center \u2063for Climate Integrity did not respond to requests \u2062for comment.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> How does including smaller, local businesses in \u2063climate lawsuits benefit the\u2064 political motivations of the left?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Ing \u200d&#8221;Big \u200dOil.&#8221; The\u200b judge in\u200c that case, \u200chowever, rejected the oil companies&#8217; motion \u200dto dismiss\u2062 \u200dthe claims \u2062against the local\u200b businesses, ruling \u2062that the city&#8217;s broad allegations were sufficient \u2063to keep the companies in state court.<\/p>\n<h3>The\u2064 Political Motivation<\/h3>\n<p>It&#8217;s clear that \u200bthe \u200dleft&#8217;s strategy to target local oil and\u200c gas companies in climate lawsuits is driven\u200b by political motivations. By including smaller, local businesses in their complaints, \u2064these lawsuits can be \u2062kept in state courts with more\u200c sympathetic\u2062 judges\u200c who are likely to rule against\u200b the oil and\u2064 gas \u2063industry. This tactic allows the plaintiffs to bypass the potential risks and challenges of federal court, where\u2062 the outcomes may be less favorable to their cause.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, including local companies \u200din these lawsuits contributes\u200b to the narrative of &#8220;David vs. Goliath&#8221; and \u2064further vilifies\u2063 the oil and\u2064 gas \u200cindustry. By painting smaller, local businesses as \u2063complicit in environmental harm,\u200d the left can strengthen their\u200d argument that the entire industry needs to\u200c be held accountable for the damages caused by climate change.<\/p>\n<h3>The Flawed Logic<\/h3>\n<p>However, the inclusion \u200bof local companies like Space Age Fuel in these climate lawsuits is based on flawed logic. Space Age is \u2063a\u2064 small, family-owned business that operates \u200cgas stations\u2063 in Oregon and transports fuel within the state. The company has no involvement in oil production, has\u200d conducted no research\u2064 on climate \u2062change, and has not made any public statements on \u2064the subject. Yet, it \u200cis being lumped together with the world&#8217;s largest oil companies in\u2062 a lawsuit\u200d that\u200d alleges deliberate deception and environmental harm.<\/p>\n<p>The\u200b fact that Space Age has\u2063 been improperly included in the\u200d suit\u2064 undermines the \u200dcredibility of the entire complaint.\u2063 If a judge determines that Space Age does not\u2064 belong in the lawsuit,\u200c it could \u2064jeopardize\u200c the entire\u200b case&#8217;s legitimacy. \u200cThis demonstrates the disingenuous nature of \u2062the left&#8217;s strategy to target local businesses in climate lawsuits.<\/p>\n<h3>The \u200dBroader Implications<\/h3>\n<p>The left&#8217;s evolving climate litigation strategy\u200b has \u200cbroader implications for the energy industry and \u200cthe economy as a whole. These lawsuits not only create a hostile environment for fossil fuel companies, but they also discourage investment in the industry and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sen-tuberville-democrat-relief-bill-to-spark-inflation-fuel-poverty\/\" title=\"Sen. Tuberville: Democrat \u2018relief\u2019 bill to spark inflation, fuel poverty\">hinder economic growth<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>If local businesses like Space Age Fuel are unfairly targeted and face significant financial burdens and reputational damage,\u2064 it sends\u2064 a chilling message to other businesses in the \u200cindustry. The fear of being dragged into\u200d costly and\u2062 politically motivated lawsuits could deter innovation, job creation, and economic development in the \u2063energy sector.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, \u200dthe left&#8217;s \u200bnarrative \u200dof holding the oil and gas industry responsible \u200cfor climate change oversimplifies a \u2062complex issue. Climate change is \u2064caused by a myriad of factors, including various industries and individual actions. Placing the blame solely on the fossil fuel industry ignores the shared responsibility and hinders meaningful efforts \u200bto address climate change\u200b through collaboration \u2062and\u200b innovation.<\/p>\n<h3>Conclusion<\/h3>\n<p>The left&#8217;s strategy to \u2062target &#8220;Big Oil&#8221; in climate lawsuits by\u2064 including local companies like Space Age Fuel\u200b is \u200da cynical move aimed at keeping these\u200b cases in state courts with sympathetic \u200djudges. This tactic\u2062 is \u200cdriven by political motivations and undermines the \u2062credibility of \u200cthe lawsuits.\u200b Furthermore, it \u200chas broader \u2064implications\u200c for \u2063the energy \u2064industry\u200c and the economy by discouraging investment and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/as-shutdown-looms-house-gop-leadership-struggling-to-tamp-down-conservative-opposition\/\" title=\"House GOP leadership faces challenges in quelling conservative opposition as shutdown approaches.\">hindering economic growth<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of resorting to\u200b divisive and politically \u200cmotivated \u200clawsuits, a more constructive \u200dapproach would be to foster collaboration between various industries, \u2064invest in renewable energy sources, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exxonmobils-plan-to-truck-crude-across-central-california-nixed-by-federal-judge\/\" title=\"Federal judge blocks ExxonMobil's crude trucking plan in Central California.\">promote sustainable\u200b practices<\/a>. This would allow for a more effective \u200dand comprehensive response to the challenges of climate \u2062change, \u200dwithout unfairly \u2062targeting specific businesses \u2063and hindering economic progress.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last summer, Multnomah County leaders, from the liberal Oregon enclave including Portland, sued major oil and gas producers for $1.5 billion. They claimed Exxon, Shell, BP, and others were aware of the &#8220;catastrophic harm&#8221; caused by their fossil fuel products but misled the public<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2020,"featured_media":2155478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2155477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-free-beacon"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2155477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2020"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2155477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2155477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2155478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2155477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2155477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2155477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}